Arrow has never been one to shy away from a cliffhanger, and viewers by this point are accustomed to ending a season with more questions than answers. The sixth season ended on Oliver Queen outed as the Green Arrow and locked up in prison for his crimes as the masked vigilante of Star City. Given that Quentin Lance died and Ricardo Diaz got away in the same finale that stuck Oliver behind bars, the remnants of Team Arrow have a lot of work ahead of them. The show won't be back until October and details about the new bad guys of Season 7 are still scarce, but we now know what one new villain's goal will be when the action picks up again in the fall. Here's what's happening:
Now, Oliver will come face-to-face with many of the criminals he placed behind bars, as he makes a new home for himself at Slabside Maximum Security Prison. Oliver will find himself vulnerable in a way unlike ever before when a mysterious new enemy begins to unravel his work as Green Arrow, challenging him to redeem his name or risk losing everything.
Well, if fans were hoping that Oliver would be out of prison and home with Felicity and William by the end of the Season 7 premiere, they may want to be reevaluate. The description from Warner Bros. TV of Season 7 seems to indicate that Oliver will spend a decent amount of time behind bars, assuming he does make it out at some point ahead of the big Arrow-verse crossover to meet Batwoman and hang out with his super friends. While in prison, Oliver won't just pass the time by experimenting with his facial hair and working his way through the prison library. On top of facing off against his new neighbors who would likely enjoy nothing more than killing him, a "mysterious new enemy" will work to try and undo everything he did as the Green Arrow.
We can only speculate at this point about who this mysterious enemy may be, but the odds are that it is not Ricardo Diaz. Although the sixth season ended with Diaz in the wind and with a whole lot of motivation to strike back at Oliver's pals, this will evidently be a new enemy. The odds are that this unfriendly party will be out and about while Oliver is locked up and without the means to do anything.
Arguably the most interesting aspect of the description is that Oliver will evidently be challenged to "redeem his name." He obviously can't go back and say that he was just kidding in his confession to the authorities (and Star City on TV), and it's difficult to imagine that he could win himself parole based after spending only a few months in the clink. Will he need to redeem himself to the authorities or to the people of Star City? Will he need to re-make some friends? Is it Oliver Queen or the Green Arrow that needs the named redeemed?
We can only wait and wonder at this point. Season 7 of Arrow will premiere under the leadership of a new showrunner on Monday, October 15 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. Swing by the rundown of The CW's premiere dates for more Arrow-verse info, and be sure to check out our summer TV guide for what you can watch while we wait for fall TV season to start.
